1-4 Indice

The use of skin graft fixation material Surfasoft® (Taurenon, Laan Van Zuid Hoorn 61, 2289 DC Rijswijk, The Netherlands) has become well established in burns surgery over the past years.1-3 Surfasoft® is a monofilament woven polyamide thread. It has many properties that make it a suitable dressing for skin grafts. It is transparent, smooth and strong. The flexible surface prevents bacterial adherence, shearing forces, and allows easy manipulation and shaping.1 This is in addition to providing continuous access for graft inspection throughout the take process.4 The porous pattern provides over 45% drainage of its surface, allowing easy passage of exudates without drying the actual surface, particularly in the early stages of graft take.1 It is historically well known that skin grafts survive and mature even if they are left exposed. However, traditionally, all skin grafts were dressed with a wide spectrum of materials in order to prevent any possibility of trauma or infection to a rather fragile graft at its initial stage. The most common pitfall of conventional dressings is adherence to the underlying graft. This can potentially lead to crusting and coagulation of the exudates, predisposing to pockets of infected material in contact with the graft surface. These welding spots transmit shearing forces and eventually lead to graft separation.2 Meshed skin grafts, however, require more attention. ExAnnals of Burns and Fire Disasters Pending Publication